Wild
by Karumeru
Summary: Sci-fi(ish) AU: Sanji has no right to complain. Even in an era still recovering from the Great Hush, working for Revolutionary Industries has made life easy for him. Easy, and incredibly dull. But something is prowling his way. Something he was sure only existed in dreams and memories. Something raw, and burning, and wild.
1. Chapter 1

The sun glaring at the centre of the sky blinded Sanji as he squinted upwards, trying to battle against the strain building behind his eyes, just so he could stare longer at that burning orb. He heard the wind stirring the waves of the ocean, sending them crashing to the shore. Gulls circled above his head, sqwaking and calling back and forth to each other.

A rough hand shoved him from behind, snapping him from his trance. He blinked furiously and glared at the tall, stocky man stood before him. Wrinkled face, stern grey eyes and that greying, braided beard, Zeff returned the little boy's glare with equal ferocity.

"We've only got three hours here before we set sail," his voice was rough and rugged. "You wanna waste time staring at sky?"

The old man didn't wait for Sanji's reply, and started hobbling away down the busy street, pushing past crowds of sailors, travellers and dockers. Sanji jogged to keep up with Zeff, listening out for the irregular thumps of his wooden leg on the cracked, cobbled ground.

Amaris was only a small port town on the south side of the world. But it had one thing that drew travellers there. Sanji's round eyes widened into saucers as he stared up at the tall metal railings that circled the area. The top of the iron gate was twisted to form intricate letters that spelt out 'Zoo'. Just below it, hung a wooden plaque. The paint of the letters on the sign was flaking away at the edges but it was still readable.

"Welcome to The Zoo," Sanji read the sign slowly, as he tried to make the letters form words in his mind. "Witness the last wonders of the Earth."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get in here!" Zeff called from the other side of the gate.

Sanji ran to his side, dodging other visitors, as the two began to explore the small plot of land filled with cages and enclosures of different sizes. Sanji had been sailing with Zeff on the S.S Baratie for two years now. Even before the old man took him in, Sanji couldn't remember a time when he wasn't on a ship.

For all he knew, he had spent all nine years of his life on the sea. The only animals he'd seen were the endless types of fish, the seagulls, and the meat delivered to them in the kitchens, which, he was informed, once came from an animal. So he was mystified when, prior to their arrival at Amaris, Zeff told him that the town had a zoo: a place where specimens of the last few animals left in the world were kept.

Of course, Sanji didn't miss a beat when agreeing to go there with Zeff. And despite the old man's complaints that the zoo looked smaller from the last time he'd visited, the young boy was still in awe. With the backdrop of the sea's waves and seagulls' caws, the pair wandered from enclosure to enclosure. Sanji stared wide-eyed at each creature.

A tall, yellow and brown spotted creature that resembled a giant horse with a long neck. Giraffe. A family of four wild dogs with grey fur and yellow eyes. Wolves. A whole cage full of colourful and noisy birds. Parrots. Each creature bigger, better and brighter than the little boy could have ever imagined.

"There are creatures like these everywhere on land?" Sanji asked as they moved away from an enclosure containing one, lonely rhino.

"Not really everywhere," answered Zeff. "Not anymore. Here's probably the only place where you'd find this many of them."

They stopped at a large enclosure full of red dirt and rocks. It was empty.

Zeff clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "I guess we missed the Elephants. Shame. You would've liked them."

Sanji squinted at the faded sign by the railing and mouthed the word 'Elephant' that was written on it. Below was a picture of a grey creature with a long nose and large floppy ears.

Sanji giggled. "They look funny." The little boy glanced up when he noticed Zeff move on. He followed the old man to the next enclosure. It was completely different, filled with thick green plants and tall trees. A wide river flowed across the mossy and overgrown ground. Sanji squinted into the enclosure.

"This one's empty too."

Zeff was quiet for a moment, staring deep into the dense foliage. "This one was my favourite," he murmured with a sigh.

Sanji joined Zeff in silence and stared into the enclosure. Just as he was about to give up and walk away, he caught sight of the ferns rustling. A large paw extended out of the green. Sanji's breath snagged at his throat, building an uncomfortable lump as he watched the beast rise out of the jungle.

She was beautiful. Four, long and strong paws, large roiling muscles, covered from ear to tail in bright orange fur, striped with black. The beast prowled slowly to the edge of river, before stooping low and lapping gently at the surface of the water.

"The last tiger in the world."

Sanji just about took in Zeff's words. The sound of crashing waves and seagulls were louder in his ear. The tiger's eyes flickered from the water to Sanji, hooking him in with an amber gaze. Everything around him dissolved. Nothing but the thick jungle, the river and the beast stood before him.

Her eyes gleamed like fire. Strong. Burning. Wild.

"Take a good look at her, Sanji," he heard Zeff's voice, quiet and forlorn among the noises of the sea. "This may be the last time you'll see one."

A short, loud beep pierced through the air.

* * *

Sanji shuddered awake. The familiar warmth of his bed dissipated the lingering images and senses of his dream. The soft sounds of waves lapping against the shore and the faint calls of seagulls clung to the air. Sanji blinked back sleep as another beep broke the tranquillity of the sounds.

It was the transponder. The young man groaned, shifting under the covers to lie on his back and stretched his slender arms over his head. The beep resounded again. Sanji sighed and propped himself up on his elbows, running a hand through the tangles of his blonde strands and down to scratch the stubble under his chin. He glanced out to his left, watching a wide stretch of ocean rolling on into a horizon of eternal blue, whilst lapping gently against the shore. In the sky, almost the same shade as the sea, two small dots circled in the air, loud gull calls carrying faintly to the shore.

After another beep Sanji placed a palm over the cold glass of the bedside table. The scenery flickered off, plunging Sanji into a dim room surrounded by painfully white walls and silence. Shoving himself off the bed, he pulled a jumper over his head and ambled out of his bedroom.

His flat was a spacious place. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, everything off-white, granite and metallic. It was good, but the best part for Sanji would always be the kitchen. Of all the places the Company offered him, this one had the biggest kitchen. Sanji could live in a hole in the ground for all he cared, so long as he had a decent sized stove, a gas oven, and two separate compartments for fridge and freezer. It wasn't too much to ask, was it?

Reaching the island counters, Sanji pressed the grey button on the transponder just as it issued another beep.

"Yo," a smooth, velvet voice greeted him from the other end.

Sanji rolled his eyes as he flicked the kettle on in the kitchen. "What do you want, Law?"

The man on the other line chuckled. "Did I wake you, princess?"

"Yes you did, you shitty doctor."

"That's too bad. Since your up, make me breakfast. I've been working all night and I'm starving."

"You can order straight from the kitchens, you know. Why do I have to make your meals personally?" Despite his words, Sanji found himself reaching for ingredients from the fridge.

There was a pause on Law's end, and Sanji heard the mewling of a passing creature and a muttered exchange between Law and one of his co-workers.

"That's because you're the best cook in the Company," Law teased, turning back to the transponder. "I won't eat anyone else's food."

Sanji laughed, placing a pan on the stove with a clang. "You've complimented me so many times your words have lost meaning now."

"That or you're just that heartless," said Law. "Speaking of heartlessness, did you give that lady a call?"

Sanji winced and leaned over the transponder. "Breakfast will be ready in half an hour. Talk to you when I get down there." He blurted out in one breath and clicked the transponder off before Law could say anything more.

The blonde took a deep breath, staring out into his empty living room. Small, orange fish in the low tank illuminating the centre of the room swam in lazy circles, reminding him that he was staring at an actual, three dimensional room and not just a still picture. There were times where Sanji appreciated the silence and still air of his home. And times like today, in which he was reminded of how easy it was to find oneself lonely.

A quieter, high-pitched beep snapped him out of his daydream. He moved to turn the knobs on the stove before fiddling with the thick, silver bangle around his wrist. He pressed the yellow button above his pulse and the screen projected a message in glowing green letters into the air an inch above his hand.

'_You didn't call her at all, did you?' –TL_

After cracking some eggs unto the side of the pan with more force than necessary, Sanji pressed a second button on the bangle.

"I'll be done in a minute," he said out loud. "See you soon."

His message illuminated in the air above the bangle before shrinking into the thin screen and disappearing all together.

"Goddamned nosy bastard," he muttered, deciding to finish up breakfast quickly and leave the flat.

Donning a slate grey pullover, dark jeans, a pair of worn leather shoes and a navy jacket he called his 'casual blazer', Sanji grabbed his key-cards and the plastic bag of food he'd left on the counter before he got dressed.

His bangle beeped again. This time to the tune of a short, three-note melody.

'_8:00 am!' _The numbers scrolled across the narrow screen in green letters. _'Wednesday, 15__th__ of August, 2053. Today's weather is dry but chilly, with some mist that should fade later in the day. Highs of about seven deg-'_

Another beep interrupted the notices. Sanji brought his hand up to see another message illuminated in the air.

'_What was wrong with this one?' –TL_

The blonde dropped his hand to his side and the bangle screen flicked off, hanging loose and lifeless on his wrist. Footsteps echoing down the empty hallways of his apartment, Sanji made for the lift. The chrome and white doors parted as he pressed the call button and slinked inside before they slid to a close behind him. As the metal cylinder sank to the lobby, Sanji watched the bare trees on the walls, hidden in a thick veil of mist rising from the grass towards an orange autumn dawn. Even the speakers were playing quiet, morning birdcalls to accompany the scenery.

Sanji sighed and leaned back, head thudding lightly onto the wall behind him. It was always the same scene of open country and a few trees on the foreground, but updated every now and again to match the season, the time of day and the weather. There was no getting away from it, and Sanji didn't believe, that the condition of their environment was the same as the ones outside the Company walls.

He closed his eyes, tried to picture the ambience he'd left behind in his room. The wide, blue ocean lapping at the shore, inviting him into the deep waters. As he sank further into his subconscious, his mind lingered back towards the dream he had. The large tiger, bright orange streaked with jet black. In his mind, she prowled above the vast ocean, like fire on water. Burning fur, burning eyes…

The lift slowed to a stop and dinged as the doors opened. Sanji willed himself to move again, feeling as though he'd woken up for the second time that day. He crossed the lobby in strides. Cindry, the ever-present receptionist, beamed at him with a metallic smile and glass eyes that lit up to life as he walked into the range of her sensor.

"Good-morning, Mr. Black!" She announced her rehearsed and recorded lines. "What a cold day."

"Always is," he answered, but smiled and bowed to her in greeting anyway. Let it be said that Sanji Black was always a gentleman, to all ladies, human or otherwise.

The receptionist raised her hand and waved to Sanji. He could hear the wires and cogs that made up her being whir as she moved. "Have a great day, Mr. Black. Wrap up warm!"

Sanji nodded and pushed through the glass entryway of the apartments. The cold air greeted him with a bite, and he shrugged his jacket tighter around himself, watching his breath come out in thin wisps from his lips. He took five strides, before he got to the tracks that cut across the front of the living quarters. Just in time too, as the tracks started to buzz with life and from the east side came a long, metallic tube that slowed to a stop before Sanji.

He waited for the few passengers to get off. The unlucky night shift, all yawning, stretching stiff muscles and popping joints. After they'd passed him, Sanji boarded the empty tube and stood by the doors as they slid to a close with a small hiss. He watched as they peeled away from apartments, picking up speed and passing an empty stretch of grass, before disappearing into a tunnel. The soft hum of electricity below the tube almost lulled Sanji into another state of near sleep. Resting his forehead on the glass of the doors, he watched with heavy lidded eyes as they emerged from the tunnel and into the work district.

A long, flower shaped building glinted in the sunlight in the distance, before disappearing behind a tall tower block made of metal and glass. Despite the speed of the tube, Sanji could spot silhouettes of figures sat in office desks behind the windows. People hard at work already. The tube passed a few more offices and workplaces, before circling one made of old-fashioned red brick, and finally slowing to a stop before a flat, off-grey building with small, tinted windows.

_"Companion Development and Research Facility," _chimed a feminine, electronic voice as the tube doors slid open, and Sanji stepped out into the cold again.

Despite it being early, the grounds above the lab were littered with people coming or going or simply loitering and delaying having to get to work so soon. Sanji was walking towards a tall, blonde lady with red-rimmed glasses and her lab coat pressed tight around her curves. She met his glance, and he beamed at her with the best charming smile he could muster this early in the morning. She frowned, turned her nose up and walked by briskly.

Sanji shrugged as he continued towards the doors to the lab, scanning a dark blue key-card into the slot of the lift inside. _Ah well_, he thought, as the lift doors closed him off from the rest of the world and began to descend. _Not like you would've taken it anywhere_.


	2. Chapter 2

'_Level 5: Companion Rehabilitation and Sick Bay'_

A melodious voice announced as the lift doors parted. Sanji stepped into a brightly lit hallway, white walls and white tiles. The strong smell of disinfectant made the warm, underground air heavy. Sanji felt like he was spreading an infection in such a clean place simply by walking through.

A short man in a lab coat bustled by him and quickly entered a room to his left. Sanji slowed and peered through the small glass panel. In the room, a few doctors were surrounding a cylindrical, glass tank, filled with green, bubbly liquid and containing a Companion. A bird-like type, floating in a peaceful stasis in the jelly like liquid.

"Subject ready for awakening," spoke one of the doctors. Sanji could just about hear her voice muffled through the closed door.

He watched the stout man pass a folder full of papers to another doctor, as the tank slowly drained of it's liquid. Lights flashed on monitors around the room. The tank glass walls slid up and the Companion sank to a kneeling position on the metal platform.

She was beautiful, as all Companions are created to be. Her long, blue hair fell in damp and tangled waves over soft, milky skin of her face and shoulders. Her wings, white as soft snow, folded gently by her sides. Her eyes flickered open, brilliant blue, and staring at the people before her.

"Good-morning," greeted the short man that passed Sanji earlier. "How are you feeling?"

The Companion looked down at her wings, shaking out the moisture of the tank liquid from her feathers.

"Can you stand?" The doctor continued.

She looked up, then down at the metal platform, slowly rising to stand on shaking, webbed feet.

"Good," the doctor prompted. "Can you walk?"

The swan looked unsure again, but took a hesitant step down from the platform, claws gently tapping on the tiled floors.

"Very good," the doctor paused as his colleague approached the creature and wrapped a blanket around her thin shoulders. "Can you speak?"

Again, the swan's delicate features creased in a frown. Wing tips fluttered to her throat. Her lips parted. "Uh… uh…"

"Your name is Vivi," said the doctor. "Can you say 'Vivi'?"

"V… Vi-"

"Sanji!" A call from down the hallway ripped Sanji's attention from the room.

He glanced up to see Law at the other end, half way through a doorway, waving him over with a heavily tattooed hand. Sanji greeted him with a nod, jogging down to meet him.

"Thought you'd left me for starved," said Law, holding the door open.

Sanji shuffled in. "Like I could ever do that. Here you go, you lazy bastard. Bon apetite and all that shit."

He placed the bag of food on the metal table in the middle of the lab and sat down on a stool beside it.

"Tell me you brought some coffee with you?" asked Law, rummaging through the bag like an animal.

"You're too lazy to even make your own coffee?"

Sanji resisted a smile when Law found the flask he'd tucked in between the Tupperware. The doctor's weary face light up like he'd just found Christmas.

Law poured coffee into the little cup before turning back to Sanji. "Now, there's a difference between busy and lazy, my friend."

"Yeah, busy is when you're too lazy to do something so you fill your time with something else. Big difference."

Law scoffed but said nothing more as he started to tuck into his food. In the silence that followed, Sanji heard the distant beeping of machinery. He began to roll himself a cigarette, with practiced precision, after years of being lectured by Law, not leave a single piece of tobacco or spec of ash in his lab.

"So," Law interrupted his idle thoughts. "Robin's friend not good enough for you?"

Sanji cringed. He'd forgotten all about that previous conversation this morning. Sighing, he bit his cigarette between his teeth, leaving it unlit and glancing at the high ceiling.

"No, it's nothing like that. Just… Can't we just give up on this dating thing for a while? You and Robin have been going at it for months."

"Yes, because you clearly need a life."

"Fuck you, I have a life."

Law shrugged. "When was the last time you left your flat?"

"I was at work yesterday."

"Okay, when was the last time you left your flat, and not gone to work?"

"Well, I…" Sanji trailed off as his mind drew blank.

Law smiled. "I'll tell you when. December fifteen. Three fucking years ago. I had a breakthrough with my reptilian breed of Companions research and we went out into the mainland to celebrate."

Sanji rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, the breakthrough. You're never gonna put that down, are you?"

"I'm not gloating, it was a phenomenal experiment and all, but the point of the matter is: you have a small circle of friends, all of whom happen to be friends with each other too. None of us have seen you outside of work or outside of your flat ever since that time."

Sanji sat still as the past three years of routine flashed through his mind. Law was right.

"Well," he began, running a hand through his hair. "Work's been busy for me too, you know."

"Yes, I can imagine injecting fluids into tomato plants can be very time consuming."

Sanji frowned, about to contort, when Law continued over him.

"Look, we're just concerned that you might be turning into a social recluse," he said, wiping off his mouth with a napkin after finishing his meal. "We thought, you know, best way to get you out would be to find you a nice lady. Or man. Significant other. Someone you deem worthy enough to leave the house for, unlike your friends."

Sanji chuckled and shook his head. "Geez, your such sap. You mean this dating thing was just an elaborate plan to get me to go out drinking with you guys?"

"You know, I've asked you straight up a couple of times in the past, and you've always turned me down. And I go over to yours and find you reading or some shit. What's up with that?"

"Well if that happened, then I must've been too tired to go out."

Law shook his head. "Alright, we're getting off topic here. We've already established you're a recluse. But, not to worry. It's my turn now, and have I got quite the line up for you."

Sanji's laugh died in his throat. He glanced down at his shoes, tapping irately at the metal bar on the bottom of the stool.

"Hey, can we give this thing a rest for a while?" he asked with a shrug. "I'm not… I'm not really up for seeing anyone right now."

Law stared at him. "You sure? I know you're still kind of like a closeted bi, so I have more women on the list. There's a lovely lady who works over in the weapons department, Franky introduced us."

Sanji shook his head. "Not up for it."

He could feel Law's eyes boring into him. The doctor crossed his arms. "You used to be such a lady-killer. Remember those days?"

Sanji chuckled. "Back when we were young idiots, you mean?"

"Yeah, when you'd try so hard to get with every woman in sight. It was like watching a game. And finally, there'd be one chick who'd swoon and it was like we all won, watching you take her home."

Sanji laughed, feeling a tension drain from his shoulders. "Didn't realise I was such a spectacle."

"So what happened to that skirt-chasing bastard?"

"I wasn't skirt-chasing, I was wooing," Sanji replied. _Thing gets boring after a while_ was the thing he failed to say.

Law was quiet for a while, as he linked his fingers together and leaned forward on his elbows on the table. "Okay. What about plan B?"

Sanji sucked in around his unlit cigarette. "Oh no, things are never good when Doctor Trafalgar Law has to resort to plan B."

"Now, I know you usually shoot me down whenever I suggest this..."

"No," Sanji's eyes widened and he sat up straighter. "No, no, no."

"…But, just hear me out…"

"No way."

"…I'm just saying…"

"We are _not_ going through this again."

"…Maybe you're not looking for a human kind of companionship."

Sanji glared at him. He breathed out long and heavy through his nose, careful not to drop the cigarette at his lips.

"I'm not _looking_ for anything."

"It'll be free!" Law cut him off. "It's Company policy. One Companion per person, and you get to choose too. If you don't like it, you could always return it. Or, better yet, I can make one for you. Genetically altered and everything to suit your tastes."

"Nothing's changed since the last time you tried to sell Companions to me. I just… I don't like the idea of having this… creature following me around. It's weird!"

"It's not weird. And wouldn't that be handy? It could help you with the cooking."

"I don't need help with the cooking."

"Or the housework, or whatever! Or, you know, when nights get lonely."

Sanji rolled his eyes. "See? That there is why I find this weird. Isn't it… Doesn't the idea of having someone- some_thing_- genetically created for the sole purpose of loving you feel a little… empty?"

Silence again. For a moment, Sanji's thoughts were distracted by a distant metallic clutter, like someone dropping a tray of scalpels onto the tiles. Then Law laughed.

"Aw, man, you're such a drama queen," the doctor managed to say between spurts of laughter. "'_Doesn't it feel a little empty?'_ Pffft. What are you, living in the Pre-Hush era?"

Sanji scowled, looking over his shoulder briefly as another clang resounded from the hallway. "Well fuck you too, Doctor heartless."

Law wiped a tear from his eye. "Look, man, we made Companions for the sole purpose of filling in that little space of emptiness in our lives. More than three-quarters of the world own a Companion. Everyone from family homes to corporate industries. They're biological, highly intelligent and a lot more emotive than those tin-cans of the last century."

He paused and drained the last of the coffee from the flask. A flustered voice muffled outside the door, fading down into the hallway. "Just let me enter your details in the database, at least," Law pressed further. "We can look through the matches. You might find one you like! Lemme guess, you're a cat person, right?"

The door to the lab burst open before Sanji could answer. A short, chubby creature with dark beady eyes and white fur crowning his head and framing his childish face, bustled into the room. He gave Sanji a curt nod in greeting before stopping beside Law.

"D-d-doctor Law," the little creature stuttered, white bear-like ears on the top of his head twitching nervously. "Th-the specimen from J-japan is here."

Law waved a hand without turning to face his Companion. "Yeah, yeah, just bring it in, Bepo." He turned his attention back to Sanji. "So, what do you say?"

Sanji shook his head. "I can't."

Faint yelling issued from the hallway outside.

"You won't know unless you try," Law spoke over the distant din.

"I don't want to try."

Bepo yelped when there came another crash and a low growl. "D-doctor…"

Law continued to ignore him, raising his voice as the commotion outside got louder and closer. "C'mon, I've seen the way you've checked out the feline Companions before. You definitely don't hate them."

Sanji's mind kept switching between the noises he could hear outside, and his conversation with Law. "No, thank you. Just, no."

"Doctor Law!" Bepo's voice escalated into a feral growl, gaining the attention of both men.

"What?" Law yelled in return.

The bear looked dejected and cast his eyes down on the floor. Before he could mutter an apology, the doors burst open and a thunderous roar shattered the atmosphere of the room.

Sanji slipped from the stool and fell to the floor in an attempt to get up. Four burly men, all yelling to each other in the Eastern tongue, barged into the room, struggling under the weight of a large, metal cage they held up between them.

The cage held a Companion, a feline type as far as Sanji could tell, but bigger. The cat thrashed in the cage, growling and hissing, ears pressed flat against the side of his head, and tail whipping about in fury. He threw his weight at the iron bars and lashed out between them, trying to swipe at his captors. The cage rattled at every movement, and as the men took it further into the room, Sanji saw that several of the metal bars dented outwards.

Bepo fled from the entrance and dove behind the safety of his master, as Law stood up from his stool too, staring wide-eyed and looking more awake than any amount of coffee could make him.

"Where do you want him?" one of the men blurted out.

"Put him here," said Law, hurrying to clear the metal table. Sanji pulled his eyes away from the creature and leapt to his feet, helping Law move sheets of paper and small utensils.

The men managed to bring the cage over just as the creature caught one of the carriers with a claw. The man let go of his end of the cage, sending it crashing onto the table. He backed up against the wall, clutching a heavily bleeding arm.

With the impact of the crash, one of the bars snapped loose, and the large cat flung himself at the gap, squeezing through. The men backed away from the cage, all yelling and waving their arms in panic. Sanji, took a step towards the door, but no further. Fear bubbled up inside him, driving him to flee. But awe kept him rooted to the spot.

"We'll need to sedate him," Law had to yell to get his voice over the roars and growls. "Bepo, get the tranquilizers."

Law reached for the gun. A metallic snap and clang pierced the air. The cat broke free. He bounded with frightening speed up to Law and swiped the gun from his hands. Pushing the lanky doctor to the ground and roared at his captors, before making for the door.

"Don't let him out!" Law yelled.

Sanji leapt between the lab doors and the raging cat. He halted, and Sanji held his breath. He was tall, and broad. Big. Verdant green fur bristled from ear-tip to tail. Green striped with jet black. Bared fangs, ears slanted downwards, the cat scowled at Sanji. Amber eyes locked on to him, narrowing to dangerous slits.

"Move," he uttered in a deadly baritone, tail twitching.

Sanji's skin prickled. He could feel a shake reverberating from his gut, to his back and crawling all the way up his neck and across his arms. He swallowed, shook his head. The cat's eyes widened, and the fury turned the burning amber into raging red. His claws extended. The low rumble of a roar started to vibrate in his chest. And all Sanji could think about, as he stood on the sharp edge of this creature's rage, was the tiger staring at him in his dreams.


	3. Chapter 3

Sanji didn't have time to think of much else. The large cat pounced, swinging sharp claws form the right. In a spark of instinct he thought he'd long lost, Sanji ducked and struck out his leg, landing a kick square on his chest.

The cat staggered back a few steps. For a moment, Sanji saw surprise flicker in his eyes. Sanji tried to match the creature's glare, tensing himself for another kick. The cat roared, tearing through the air. It caught Sanji off and stilled him for a split second, but that was enough for the beast to lunge forward and topple the blonde to the floor.

Sanji couldn't even make a noise, as he felt sharp claws dig into the flesh of his neck. His heart hammering at his ears drowned out everything else, as he stared up growling beast, pinning him down, raising another claw to strike the deathblow.

The hand stilled. A pink, feathered dart appeared at the side of cat's neck. His pupils dilated, drowning out the amber with black. The claws retracted from around Sanji's neck, and the cat staggered backwards, swiping at the dart. Sanji coughed as he pulled himself to sit up, watching Law's fast-acting sedatives take effect.

The creature's growling slowly faded to short rasps, as he tried, unsuccessfully, to stumble to his feet. In the end, his muscles gave up and he slumped heavily onto the floor, eyes drooping half closed.

Law straightened, lowering the gun in his hands and taking a deep breath. The room grew still and silent and it jutted out uncomfortably in comparison to the chaos that just happened.

"Bepo, please tend to the man's arm," said Law, nodding to the injured cage-bearer, before he knelt beside Sanji and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "You okay?"

Sanji pulled his eyes away from the fallen creature. He stared for a while, unblinking, at his friend. "Y-yeah. I think so."

He jumped a little as he felt Law's cold fingertips press against his neck. "Sit still. The scratches aren't deep, but we should probably patch you up. Bepo!"

The bear ran over, passing a small green box with a white cross on the front to the doctor. His white paws stained red.

"Thank you," Law turned to the men muttering in the far corner of the room and glaring at the cat sprawled out on the tiles. "Any chance you could carry him onto the table? Don't worry, he's out cold."

As Law worked on the wounds around his neck, Sanji watched the cage-bearers hesitate before approaching the large cat. It took two of them to gingerly move him onto the table.

Law stood and dismissed them in their tongue, moving to place a thick, leather collar around the cat's neck. Sanji dusted himself off as he stood up, finding his discarded cigarette crumpled on the floor. He crushed it into his pocket before joining the doctor and the bear beside the metal table.

"What… is he?"

"He's a Companion. What else would he be?"

Sanji shook his head. "But he's a…"

"I know, right?" Law smirked, attaching a thick chain to the collar before linking it to a heavy lock on one of the legs of the table. "Are you familiar with Dr. Vegapunk?"

"The name rings a bell."

"Vegapunk thinks he's managed get one up on me and my reptilian Companions," Law explained. "We've been exchanging theories and breakthroughs lately, and he's told me of his recent project in creating a new Companion species based on animals from the Pre-Hush era."

Sanji looked back down at the tiger, watching the rise and fall of his striped chest. "How?"

Law narrowed his eyes. "Do your really want me to go into all the scientific details?"

Sanji chuckled and shook his head. He knew how much Law could get into a tangent once you get him onto the topic of genetics. He could only imagine what conversations between Law and Vegapunk must sound like.

"I'll try and put it simply for you," said Law, as he snapped on a pair of latex gloves. "Somehow, and I'm not sure how, Vegapunk has managed to get his hands on D.N.A samples of these extinct species. That's how he's been able to replicate the cells and create Companions like this guy."

Law's gloved hands moved over the unconscious tiger, doing routine checks on fur, eyes, ears, fangs.

"But it's not pure," Law spoke as he worked. "The DNA was unstable and fuck knows how many stem cells Vegapunk lost simply by replicating the cell growth process. So he started laddering, adding a strand of DNA from an already stable species, and adding and adding until the whole process is stable enough for development. I don't know how he's done it, but he's managed to find a perfect balance between the unstable, extinct DNA and the stable pre-existing DNA. And viola."

Sanji couldn't take his eyes away from the table. "Why did he send you the tiger?"

Law's smile deepened into a smirk. "Vegapunk and I have come to a neutral truce. Well, I couldn't resist, since he practically begged me for my help."

He paused and leaned over Bepo, who was quietly observing the check up beside him. "Could you go and fetch Mrs Nico for me, please?"

Bepo threw a salute and bounded out of the lab. Law turned back to the table and slid his hand along the edge until a panel popped out. He pulled out a small, opaque screen, linked to the edge of the table by a mechanical arm, and lifted it above the tiger. The screen flickered, projecting numbers, graphs and data into the air, whilst displaying an x-ray of the sleeping creature on the surface of the glass.

"Vegapunk tells me he's picked up a trend that seemed to lie in the Companion's psyche," Law continued to explain as he moved the screen across the length of the tiger. Sanji saw the creature's steady heart beating behind a criss-crossed ribcage.

"Every prototype he's created has had aggressive behaviour and violent streaks. Unpredictable ranges of temperament. As we just saw demonstrated to us a few minutes ago," Law's eyes glanced up briefly at Sanji's neck. "Obviously, that's a major fault. Vegapunk can't sell products that could very well kill the consumer. And it doesn't help that the average Companion has twice the strength of a human anyway, think of how much stronger these 'laddered' species are."

Sanji swallowed, feeling the bandage scratch at the skin of his neck as his throat bobbed. The fact that he was alive now was beginning to seem more and more like a miracle.

"It doesn't matter how much he modifies the cells, each extinct species Companion comes out the same," said Law, taping at the screen as he finished the scans and folding it back into the side of the table. He snapped off the latex gloves and stood with his hands on the table, watching the sleeping tiger just as Sanji was doing.

"Knowing the Company has the world's leading behavioural psychologists, Vegapunk asked me if these Companions can perhaps be 'tamed'. So he's sent me the worst one of the lot he has right now, and that's how ended up with Tigey here."

Sanji took a moment to process everything he was just told. In this state, the tiger looked nothing more like an over-sized housecat taking a harmless nap. He reached out and gently stroked the striped green fur that crowned the tiger's forehead. It was thick, and bristled under his hand. He laughed.

"This is amazing. It's like having a real tiger," Sanji looked up, eyes wide and face beaming. "Can you imagine what it would be like if this becomes a success? This is probably the closest we'll get to having the old world animals again!"

Law raised a brow. "Huh. Interested in Companions now?"

Sanji's hand moved back to his side. "No. I was just saying."

Law laughed. "Of course not. But don't get too exited just yet. If we can't get this kitty to sit and play fetch, Vegapunk will have to discontinue the project and put down all the prototypes he's created so far."

The tiger on the table let out a groan, his face contorting.

"Looks like he's coming to," said Law. "Let's move to the observation room. Give the cat some space."

Sanji followed Law out of the lab, after the doctor dimmed the lights. Back in the hallway, Sanji turned at the slow clack of heels on the tiles, accompanied by the soft thumps of Bepo's footsteps.

Nico Robin, tall, slender, with long raven hair, wearing a smart, violet suit and a stern expression on her face, approached the two men. Bepo had to jog to keep up with her long strides. She folded her arms and stared apathetically at Law.

"This better be good."

Sanji leapt in front of Law before the doctor could answer. "Good-morning, Robin, my sweet, delicate flower!" He greeted her with exuberant enthusiasm. "How are you today?"

Robin turned to him and smiled, tilting her head a little. "I'm furious that Doctor Law has pulled me away from my work, and for his sake, I can only hope that the reason for this is going to be worth the hell I'll put him through if, in the end, it turns out that it really wasn't worth disturbing me."

Sanji let out an uncomfortable chuckle. For a woman who exudes such grace and beauty, Robin really knew how to lay a threat in a tone rather than a mouthful of words. Law shook his head and placed a hand on both their shoulders.

"Why don't we go into the observation room? And you can see for yourself why I called you, Mrs Nico."

The three moved without a word into the room next door. This room was plainer, containing a few chairs and a desk with a glass top, lined with panels along the side.

The entire far wall was made of tinted glass, and Sanji flitted towards it immediately. Through the glass he could see the tiger twitch into slow wakefulness on the metal table. Robin gasped beside him.

"Is that a…" her voice trailed off, eyes-widening as she watched the Companion rise groggily to a sitting position. "That… Can't be…"

"Beautiful creature, right?" Sanji hummed. "But not as beautiful as you, my lovely Robin."

"How is this possible?" Robin turned to Law, ignoring the blonde. "Where did you get him? They've been extinct in the wild for more than a hundred years, and the last one they had in captivity died over twenty years ago."

"Dr. Vegapunk created this one."

Robin's expression fell to a neutral face, as though the name explained everything. "I see."

Everyone in the room grew quiet, all eyes watching the tiger in the other room. The creature growled irritably. He pulled at the chain, biting at it, and when it didn't give, he slapped it hard on the ground and paced the room.

"Vegapunk says there's a behavioural fault with his new Companions," said Law. "He's hoping we can 'tame' this one somehow."

Robin crossed her arms again. "We?"

"Behavioural reassessment. I'm a doctor, not a psychologist, Mrs Nico. I thought this project might be more of your field of interest?"

"It is, but you're talking to the woman who believes that 'reassessment' of any sort doesn't really exist."

Silence again. The tiger in the lab stopped pacing, climbing to sit cross-legged on the metal table. He rested his striped arms on his knees, closed is eyes and took a deep breath. It was almost as if he was meditating.

Sanji chuckled. It was another thing that spooked him about Companions. When they were first created decades ago, it caused uproar amongst a lot of humanitarians, socialists, scientists and religious factions alike. Mostly around the fact of 'what exactly were they?' and how should they be treated. Hundreds of court cases and debates later, Companions were proven to be useful and worth having around, treated as a utility and sold as products but protected under the same rights as animals.

To Sanji, that made them just that. Animals. Glorified pets with human-like faces. But it wasn't just appearance, they behaved human as well. Sometimes almost too much that the thought jarred with Sanji's previous opinions and left his mind a muddled up string of thoughts, bordering on a migrane.

"…It will take time," Robin was talking. Sanji snapped out of his trance and caught the last part of her sentence. "It'll be a long and difficult process, not to mention unpredictable, as all our efforts and steps will depend on how the tiger will react to our tests."

"But it's not impossible, right?" Sanji chipped in, assuming they were on the topic of the behavioural reassessment.

Robin's dull-blue orbs shot him a side-wards glance. Her face was stern. Sanji repressed a shudder, no longer sure how he felt about the attention. As pretty as she was, Robin never failed to send creepy vibes up any man's spine.

"I'm still puzzled as to why _you_ are here, Mr. Black," She said.

"Er," Sanji faltered. Originally, he had come to Law's lab for a visit. But there really was no reason for him to stick around. Except for the tiger, of course. Who would want to leave after discovering that? But he couldn't bring his thoughts into words.

Law clasped a hand on his shoulder, startling him.

"I figured, with a new specimen, we're going to need an expert nutritionist," he answered for Sanji.

"N-nutritionist?" the blonde stuttered.

Law quirked a brow at him. His equivalent to winking. "Gotta keep the tiger in good condition."

Sanji turned back to Robin, seeing her regarding them both with those eyes that seemed to be able to read everything in one look. Will she really buy that?

Her face broke into a smile. "Is that so? Then it'll be a pleasure working with you, Mr. Black."

Sanji felt his cheeks flush at the compliment. "Uh, pleasure's all mine."

"Well then," said Law, slapping a hand to Sanji's back and leading him to the door. "We'll discuss plans for the tests, while you go up and get something for Tigey to eat."

Sanji frowned. "What, now?"

"Yes, now. Who knows when the last time he ate was? He's probably so antsy because he's just hungry."

When they neared the door, and when he saw Robin turn her attention back to the tiger, Sanji ducked his head closer to Law.

"You didn't tell me anything about being a nutritionist for this project," he hissed at Law in a low tone.

The doctor just smiled at him. "You needed an excuse to stick around, right? Now go cook something up. Oh, and get something for me and Robin too."

Sanji rolled his eyes. "I should've known. You just wanted lunch, didn't you?"

Law pushed him out of the door. "You know me well."

He turned back to the observation room, and Sanji heard him start a sentence about schedules before the door swung shut. The blonde sighed, glancing with scrunched brows at the door to the lab to his left. He shrugged, pulled out his tobacco and started to roll himself another cigarette, as he made his way to the lifts. There was nothing better to do with his time at the moment anyway. Now, what was it that tigers liked to eat?


	4. Chapter 4

During previous conversations about Companions with Law, Sanji learnt that Companions could pretty much live on the same food substances as humans. It was cost-effective, in a way. No such thing as Companion food, and they were all genetically engineered so very few had any dietary requirements of any sort.

It made things easier for Sanji. He would just make everyone the same thing. Something quick and easy. The journey between the work district and the living quarters already took about twenty minutes. He really didn't want to be away for so long. He might have missed something.

Keying himself into his flat, Sanji didn't even bother taking off his jacket. He made a bee-line for the kitchen, heating up the stove and moving to the fridge. Fried rice. Easy. But it'll have to be a bit more substantial. He spotted a bag of mixed shellfish defrosting at the bottom of his fridge. Perfect.

He rolled up his sleeves, silver bangle clunking against his wrist bone as he started to slice up a few vegetables. Sanji wondered what kind of palette the tiger would have. Companions never complained, especially not their owners, but each one had different preferences to another.

_Just like us_.

A chime sounded on his bangle. '_12:00 pm!_' The numbers scrolled across the tiny screen. Already? As if on queue, Sanji's stomach grumbled. He better double the portions. One for himself, and he couldn't forget about Bepo either.

Soon, the blonde cook was making his way back to the work district with boxes of seafood fried rice in a bag and the aromatic smell of fried onions and spices following him, making nearby Companions and other Company workers turn their heads as he passed.

The lift door chimed. '_Level 5…_' The voice began to announce, but Sanji was already halfway down the hallway before the sentence was finished. He slowed his strides when he neared the observation room, peering inside through the small, glass panel. Robin and Law were stood around the table, surrounded by green and blue holograms of timetables, pages of information, and small graphs. They were deep in conversation, both sporting serious expressions.

Sanji moved to the lab door. Through the panel, he saw the tiger still sat on the table, meditating. It was strange seeing the creature like this. So calm when just earlier, he was ready to tear the cook to shreds. Sanji pushed through the door as quietly as he could.

The tiger's ears twitched, all stillness broken. His tail swung around and began to slap the metal surface of the table. Amber eyes flickered open and honed in on Sanji. His features twitched into a snarl and a deep growl started to reverberate in his chest.

"Growl all you want, but I bet you're hungry," said Sanji. He placed the bag of food on the nearest counter, and pulled a box of rice out.

The tiger's mood shifted, his sneer gone and his eyes now focused on the box in Sanji's hand. His nose twitched, as the growling grew quieter. Sanji took a step forward, but the tiger glared at him again, baring his fangs. He backed up and off the table as the cook approached.

Sanji held a hand up. "Alright, alright," he spoke in a gentle tone. "I won't hurt you."

The tiger scoffed. "Like you could hurt me," he growled. "Blondie."

Sanji blinked. Before now, the tiger had said one word to the cook. He'd forgotten he was capable of any speech at all.

"Rude," said Sanji, feeling a small smile pull at his lips. "And I went through all the trouble of cooking for you and everything."

"You wasted your time. I wouldn't eat anything _you'd_ give me."

Sanji couldn't help the smirk this time. "Is that so?"

He took it as a personal challenge whenever faced with reluctant eaters. Especially when they appeared hungry, just like the tiger. His amber eyes kept flicking between the box and Sanji.

The cook stepped forward, holding that stern glance. The tiger growled, his fur bristling, backing up until the chain pulled taunt against the table. Sanji reached the edge of the table and placed the box down, along with a spoon.

"Here," he said, and slid everything across the table, closer to the tiger. He took steps backwards until the tiger stopped growling.

The striped cat eyed the box, then Sanji, then the box again. With a tentative hand, he took the food and settled on the floor behind the table. Sanji heard the lid pop open, followed by a cautionary sniff from the tiger.

Rounding the table as quietly as he could, Sanji kept his distance and watched the large cat practically inhale the food from the box. He kept his focus on the food, but his ears twitched and pointed in Sanji's direction, ever aware of his presence. His expression stayed the same. Perhaps less edgy, but it was hard to tell if he liked what he was eating. That was until he started purring. It was soft and low, easily missed and loudest when the tiger chuffed through his nose in between mouthfuls.

Sanji chuckled. "That good, huh?"

The tiger's eyes flickered back to Sanji, but he didn't answer until he'd drained the whole Tupperware of every grain of rice.

"I've had better," he muttered.

"Your purring says otherwise."

The purring stopped. The tiger glared, amber eyes burning. "I don't purr."

Sanji hummed. "You sure do. Just like a big, fat, house cat."

A growl. "I'm nothing like a house cat."

"You look like one too. Big ears, whiskers, tail, and the purring. Just like a housecat."

The tiger leapt onto the table, large hands slapping on the metal. He roared, long and loud at the cook, until he fell backwards and slammed against the counters behind him.

"Sanji!" Law yelled from the door. Both tiger and cook turned to see the doctor stride into the room with Robin and Bepo close behind. The tiger, still growling, leapt back to the floor and retreated to his spot behind the table.

Law grabbed Sanji by the arm and yanked him to his feet.

"What the hell were you doing, coming in here alone?"

"Uh," Sanji cleared his throat, feeling his paralyzed nerves slowly twitch back to work. "Seems I touched a nerve."

Law sighed, picking up one of the boxes left on the sides. "To think you'd feed the animals first before your friends."

His complaint fell on deaf ears, as Sanji grabbed another box and flitted over to Robin's side.

"Ah, my dear Robin," He cooed. "Sorry to keep you waiting, here's your lunch."

Robin giggled at his antics. "Thank you."

"Loser," the tiger grumbled from behind the table.

Sanji shot him a look. "You say something, kitty?"

"Kitty?" the tiger snarled.

"Sanji," Law distracted them, cutting off Sanji's retort. "We're supposed to be taming not taunting him, remember?"

The tiger smirked, before he sank back to the floor behind the table, smug that the blonde got berated. Sanji narrowed his eyes at him before deciding to turn his full attention to the others in the room. He got the last box of food out of the bag and passed it to Bepo. The bear blinked in surprise at first, but nodded his thanks and took the food.

"Right, sorry," said Sanji. "What's the plan?"

"At the moment, we'll need somewhere suitable to house the tiger," said Robin.

"He can't stay here," added Law, as he started tucking into his lunch. "I can't run my lab with a hundred and eighty pounds of muscle, claws and fangs breathing down my neck."

Sanji looked over at the tiger, seeing his ears twitch. "What about the shelter?"

"That was the initial idea," answered Robin. "But I don't think I'd entrust something so dangerous to them. Also, it would be best to keep him somewhere nearby. Somewhere we can all get to him easily."

"I thought about the infirmary," said Law. "But there's too much going on up there at a time. We need somewhere quiet and out of the way for him too."

When a natural silence fell over the room, Sanji's mind wandered to the other places out of the working district. Specifically, they wandered to his flat.

"I… have a spare room," said Sanji, before he could think about what he was actually suggesting.

Law and Robin threw him a look, before exchanging glances. It was the simultaneous quirk of the brow they both did that unnerved him.

"And?" Law prompted.

The cook shrugged. "We could move him there."

"Are you sure you want this thing living in your flat? He nearly ripped your throat out."

"You could make it more tiger-proof. I was converting it into a study anyway, so all the furniture's been moved out. It's perfect."

Law grimaced and scratched the back of his head. "I don't know…"

"It seems logical," said Robin. The bangle on her wrist beeped and she checked the screen as she continued to speak. "The best place for the tiger to be at this point is with his nutritionist, don't you think?"

"Perhaps," muttered Law.

Robin flicked the message on her bangle off and made of the door. "Anyway, it's the best we've come up with in such short time. If you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I must get back to my work. We'll move the tiger to Mr Black's spare room. Then we'll work it out from there."

* * *

It took Law and his co-workers a few days, spread over the week, to fully tiger-proof and convert Sanji's spare room. When he came home that night, they were moving in the drowsing tiger.

"I should really be more concerned that you all have access to my flat, shouldn't I?" said Sanji as he inspected the changes they made to the room.

The biggest differences he could spot were the thick, metal beam wedged between the ceiling and the floor, the sliding glass doors than now made up where the wooden door and the wall used to be, and a new door at the back of the room that Sanji was sure wasn't there before. A thick futon was laid out beside the metal beam, containing the unconscious Companion. Sanji eyed the long chain running loosely from the beam to a heavy collar around the tiger's neck.

"Don't worry, princess," said Law. "We didn't go through your underwear drawer or anything."

Sanji rolled his eyes. He stood aside as Law's co-workers, Penguin and Shachi, set up a low table at the centre of the room. He gestured to the new door at the back of the room

"What's through there?"

"Bathroom," answered Law, as he gently moved the tiger into a recovery position on the floor. "You had empty wall space, so we thought Tigey would be more comfortable with a little en suite. Didn't think you'd want to unchain him to use your bathroom and risk getting ripped to shreds."

Sanji snorted. "No, not really."

Law stood up and looked over the room. "The chain is two-fifty inches long, so it should be enough to get him to the bathroom and around this half of the room. Safety area is behind the white tape."

He paused and pointed to a line of tape that ran under the table and divided the room in half. Then, he reached over and plucked the cigarette from between Sanji's lips.

"Hey!"

"Don't smoke in this room," said Law, crushing the cigarette on the heel of his shoe. "I haven't done a full examination of Tigey yet, so let's try to keep him in as clean an environment as possible. Any questions?"

Sanji sighed, disappointed about his short lived nicotine fix. But his mind quickly latched onto something else.

"Are we really calling him Tigey?"

Law raised a brow at him. "Why?"

"Don't think it really suits him."

A small smirk spread on the doctor's face. "First you wanted him in your flat, now you want to name him. You sure you don't want him as a Companion?"

Sanji frowned at him. "Just had a feeling that if you called him 'Tigey' again, it'll be you with the bandages around your neck this time."

Law laughed. The kind of quiet, short chuckles that he did whenever he knew something that others didn't. "Alright, whatever you want."

He dismissed Penguin and Shachi and checked his bangle. "The sedatives should wear off in about an hour. I gave him a strong dose this time, so he'll be really groggy and disorientated. Make sure he gets a lot of water. Feed him too, once he feels up for it."

"I think I know the basics of Companion care, Law."

The doctor shot him a side-wards glance as he made for the door. "Yes, because every Companion is a hundred and eighty pound bulk of muscle with an aggressive violent streak that won't hesitate to rip your arms out of their sockets without even using his claws."

Sanji smirked as he followed him. "Didn't know you cared so much about me."

"I'm just worried you'll damage our imported goods."

"Huh, charmed."

"He's a prototype, you know. We'll get into a lot of trouble if you break him."

"I thought he was more likely to break me?"

"Yeah, but that outcome is not as bad."

"Oh, now I feel special."

Law laughed as he joined his co-workers in the hallway. "Give me a call when you're getting mauled."

"I'll try to remember that," Sanji called after them, as they disappeared into the lifts. He turned back to his flat and made a bee-line for the tiger room.

Standing by the doorway, he watched the slumbering tiger through the glass. Even when unconscious, the striped cat was still a marvel. Like this, Sanji had time to take in the creature's full size and appearance without having those amber orbs staring back at him, or being in dangerously close proximity of sharp claws. He watched the tiger's tail and ears twitch in his sleep. Sometimes, a shudder would jolt across the the cat's muscles. But otherwise, he slept in silence. Sanji wondered if he was dreaming. Do Companions even dream about the same things humans do? Are they that similar? Or do they dream so vividly about humans the same way Sanji's dreams are plagued with burning orange and jet black?

He shook his head. He should probably do something more productive with his time than staring at a sleeping Companion.


	5. Chapter 5

An hour was enough time for Sanji to take a shower and start preparing dinner. He checked in on the tiger every time he passed the room. When Law said the Companion would wake up groggy, he wasn't kidding.

Peeking through the glass, Sanji was treated to a strange but funny sight of a partially numb tiger trying to pull himself up from the floor. He stumbled over the chain, glaring at it with furrowed brows, before trying to stand up again. His leg muscles gave way, sending him tumbling face down on the ground. The cook struggled to stifle amused chuckles. In this state, the tiger really was no better than a house cat.

Eventually, the Companion's motor skills began to function as normal. Sanji checked in on him again, half was through making dinner. The tiger circled the new room, inspecting every inch he could reach on the chain. He tested the strength of the metal beam with his paws, and bit the length of chain between his teeth. He spotted Sanji through the glass, pupils narrowing into slits as he gave the cook a hard stare. His tail thumped against the wood of the floor, lashing from side to side. Somehow, it turned into a staring-contest, which Sanji was sure he would've won if the simmering from the stove didn't cause him to break eye contact. He returned to the kitchen, draining the pasta from a pot and finishing off the last touches to the sauce.

With the food ready, he returned to the tiger room with two plates balanced on one arm and a large bowl of water in his other hand. He hovered his bangle over the sensor. As soon as the door slid open, the tiger snarled, fur bristling around his neck. But when he spotted the plates of food his snarl faded.

Sanji stepped closer, slowly. The tiger wasn't backing away this time. He placed the bowl of water down and slid it across the table towards the other half of the room.

"Drink first," said Sanji. "You need to get those sedatives out of your system."

The tiger sat still, glaring at the blonde. Sanji rolled his eyes.

"Come on, your food's getting cold."

After a pause, the tiger took the bowl with caution. He downed the contents of it, water spilling out and running rivulets down his neck and chest, soaking the loose hospital vest Law managed to find as temporary clothing. Sanji bit his tongue and stopped himself from berating the tiger's lack of table manners.

The cook sat down on the other end of the table and slid one of the plates towards the cat. Sanji began to eat, but the tiger just sat still, watching.

"I didn't make it so you could just stare at it."

The tiger scoffed, but pulled the plate closer anyway. Sanji pretended to keep his focus on his food, but he listened as the tiger slurped up his dinner. Sure enough, there came that soft purring again.

"You know," said Sanji. "For someone so wary, you're awfully trusting of the food I give you."

Shrugging, the tiger spoke around a mouthful. "Why risk your life blocking the door just to poison me?"

"Hm. You're not as dumb as you look."

Sanji received a glare for that, but nothing more. The Companion seemed more interested in his food this time.

"I have to give you a name," said Sanji, after letting him eat in silence for a while.

Brows furrowed over as striped forehead. "Why?"

"Well, unless you want to be called 'Tigey' for the rest of your life."

"But why do you have to name me? Why can't I name myself?"

Sanji couldn't answer. The tiger took this as an opportunity to continue.

"It was the same for the others," he said, his voice rolling in a growl. "They all got named in the cages too. By you people. Every one of us did. But no one could choose for them-selves. Why?"

It was a lot of words to take it from someone who was normally quiet. Sanji twirled his pasta around with a fork in thought. If he was honest, Sanji didn't really have an answer.

"Well," the cook began. "If you want to name yourself, you can. Go ahead."

The tiger's scowl faltered. Slitted pupils dilated, as he glanced off to the side, ears tilting backwards. Sanji noticed his grip tighten around his fork. Then it struck him that perhaps the tiger couldn't physically name himself.

Companions were genetically created in every way. What's to say they weren't created with a built-in instinct of submissiveness? Just like when robots were first created, all with interfaces that were forced to follow the rule of robotics. Perhaps that was why Companions couldn't make many decisions for themselves that their owners could. It was all to benefit humanity, to ensure that they would still be the ruling species.

"What if I suggested names?" said Sanji, noticing the frustration pushing a deeper frown on the tiger's face. "You could pick one you like."

Scowl dispersing, the tiger's ears flicked forward. All attention drawn back to Sanji, his tail swayed in thought, before he gave the cook a curt nod. Sanji's mind rewound as far back as he could remember, back to his first time on shore at a port called Amaris.

"What about Roronoa?"

"Roronoa?" the Companion repeated, his baritone voice reverberating over the 'r's. "Why that?"

"That was the name of the first tiger I saw, when I was a child. She was a real tiger too. An animal, not a Companion."

The tiger frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Animals? They used to walk the lands, apparently, before the Great Hush. Different from you guys. Less..."

_Human, _was what Sanji wanted to say. But he stopped rambling when he caught the impatient look on the tiger's face. Maybe he wasn't interested in the history lesson.

"Well," Sanji continued. "What about it?"

"It's too long."

"We could always shorten it to 'Roro'."

The tiger gave him a narrow-eyed, straight-lipped stare. "No."

The cook chuckled. He leant forward on the table on his elbows, as a silence settled around them. The tiger returned to shovelling in his dinner. Sanji's eyes wandered down to where the shirt's collar hung low about the Companion's shoulders. He spotted the top of a scar, hidden under a brush of fur, jagged and gnarled by stitches. It looked like it disappeared diagonally down the rest of his chest, under the shirt.

"Any more bright ideas?" said the tiger. When Sanji looked up, he saw the Companion watching him with equal interest. The blonde glanced back down at the bit of scar that was visible. He noticed the shape of the stitching formed a haphazard 'Z' pattern.

"What about 'Zoro'?"

The tiger's tail swayed in thought. "Zoro," he repeated. Sanji was growing fond of the way the he rolled his 'r's.

It was hard to tell what expression was on the tiger's face at that moment. But Sanji thought it was calmest look he had so far. Save for the moment of meditation he had in Law's lab a few days back.

The tiger met his eyes again, his face scrunching into a sneer.

"I guess it'll do," he muttered.

Sanji let out a short laugh. "You're a pain in the ass, you know?" He collected the empty plates from the table. "I'll get you some more water."

Zoro hummed. "Do you have anything stronger?"

Sanji quirked a brow. "What, like booze?"

The tiger's face lit up, tail raised and ears perked upright.

"Be a good little kitty and I might treat you to a little alcohol," Sanji teased. Zoro threw the bowl at him, missing and hitting the wall in the hallway. Good thing it was plastic.

Sanji tutted and wagged his finger mockingly. Zoro's frown only deepened. He kneed the table, budging it slightly from its place, and turned to lie on side on the futon, his back to the cook. With a sigh, Sanji left the room, the glass door sliding shut behind him. He probably shouldn't spoil the tiger too much.


	6. Chapter 6

The doctor and the cook sat slumped on the hallway floor, shoulder to shoulder, each with a bottle in their hands. They stared with weary, drooping faces at the tiger from behind the safety of the glass doors. The room beyond looked as bad as they felt.

The table lay scattered in splinters all over the floor, accompanied by scraps of material that used to make up the futon. The metal beam dented outwards where the chain pulled. Scratches and fist-shaped marks littered the walls. In the midst of it all sat Zoro, face scrunched into a snarl, fur bristling and tail lashing from side to side. A continuous growl rolled from his chest as he pulled against the chain. Thankfully, that remained intact compared to everything else in the room.

Sanji butted out what must have been his tenth cigarette that morning and promptly lit up another one.

"Remind me again why you need these tests so badly?" he asked.

Law sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "I need samples so I have a base health report before we begin. We should probably give him the standard vaccines too. What if he caught some disease or parasite en route to here?"

A splintering smash interrupted them as whatever sizable chunk was left of the table flew into the glass. The tiger roared and kicked at the metal beam.

"He looks perfectly healthy to me," said Sanji.

Law held out his hand and the cook was quick to slip a fresh cigarette stick between his fingers, followed by his lighter.

"What the hell set him off?"

Sanji shrugged. "Between the casual glance you gave him, or the tiny baby step I took towards the tape, who knows?"

"Jesus, I know Vegapunk said he'd be temperamental, but this is fucking ridiculous."

"Oi, kitty," Sanji yelled to get his voice through the glass, tapping the toe of his shoe on the door. "You done with your tantrum yet?"

Another piece of the table met its splintery end against the glass.

"Not helping," Law grumbled.

The click of Sanji's apartment door had both men glancing into the living room. Robin, in all her eternal grace and beauty, strode into view. In her arms, she cradled a small file and a round, opaque orb that gave out a faint blue glow.

The soft clamping of hooves accompanied her entrance. From behind the tall woman peered a small Companion covered in soft, brown fur and sporting small, dull antlers from under a pink hat. His blue nose twitched in greeting at the two men.

"Ah, Mrs Nico," Sanji beamed at her. "What an amazingly beautiful sight for a couple of sore eyes!"

"What took you so long?" groused Law, earning him a sharp kick from the cook.

Robin smiled. "I hope you two aren't getting drunk on the job." She turned to observe the tiger in the room. "How is he?"

Law stood and moved to her side in front of the glass. "Well, we're still cowering on this side of the room, and he's still in there bent on clawing everything into dust."

Robin placed a hand on the Companion hiding behind her, clutching the bottom of her skirt between cloven hooves.

"I brought Dr Chopper with me," she said. Chopper jumped a little at the mention of his name. "Perhaps the tiger would be more willing to co-operate with a fellow Companion."

"Worth a try," said Law.

Robin held out the orb. "I also thought it would be best to record our interactions with the tiger. Is there anywhere I can set this up, Mr Black?"

"There's a panel in the room," said Sanji. "I'll set up it up."

He took the orb just as Law handed Chopper a small white box.

"We'll need blood and urine samples," said Law. "And he needs some vaccines. Everything should be in there."

The little reindeer Companion nodded. He turned to Sanji, who had his bangle ready for the sensor.

"You may want to go big for this," said the cook. "He's developed a habit of throwing things at people."

Chopper took a long look at the tiger before glancing back up. "I'll stay like this for now."

With a nod, the blonde touched the screen of his bangle to the sensor. The door slid open. Zoro hissed. Fortunately, he'd flung most of the things around the room out of arm's reach.

"Let's try this again, kitty," said Sanji.

"Try anything and I'll kill you."

Chopper suppressed a squeak and froze by the doorway, ears pressed flat against his head and clutching the white medical box to his chest. Zoro's glance moved from the cook to the little reindeer. His growl lessened. Sanji gave Chopper an encouraging nod before turning to the wall to his right. He ran a hand across the surface until a panel popped and slid out, revealing a small spherical slot.

"I-I'm Chopper," stuttered the reindeer, approaching the tiger with small steps. "I'm… I'm just here to do a health check."

Sanji paused in installing the orb when he heard the tiger's growl rise.

"I'll be quick!" added Chopper. "And it won't hurt, promise."

The growl faded, but Zoro still held his snarl. "Piss off."

"Language," Sanji tutted.

"Fuck you."

Chopper knelt on the floor, at the edge of where the white tape was torn off. He popped open the box and pulled out a syringe.

"Look," he spoke calmly, gesturing to the flesh at the bend of his arm. "I just need to take a blood sample from here. It won't be for more than a few seconds. I'll also need a urine sample, but you can do that yourself. Then I need to give you some shots so you won't get sick, okay?"

The tiger was silent, scrutinizing Chopper. Robin probably made a good choice in bringing her Companion. The reindeer had an effect of calm on people and other Companions alike. Taking Zoro's silence as an 'okay', Chopper moved closer again. No reaction. He was now and arm's reach away from the tiger.

"Show me your left arm," Chopper requested, preparing the syringe and a ball of cotton.

To Sanji's surprise, the tiger complied, extending his arm out to Chopper palm side up. Deciding not to spoil whatever spell the reindeer had over Zoro, the cook simply turned and placed the glowing orb in the slot on the wall.

He had his back turned for one second. A roar shook the room, followed by Chopper's piercing yell. Zoro lunged forward, gripping the reindeer by the arm and the neck. Claws dug into brown fur, drawing blood.

"Chopper!" Robin cried from the doorway. Law scrambled for the tranquilizer gun.

Sanji ran to get between them, but Chopper's instincts reacted quicker. His body grew, large and more muscled, throwing the tiger off. In a blink, he changed again. Scrawny, long legged with larger antlers. Yelping, Chopper scrambled out of the room, hitting the glass door and the hallway walls with a smack as he fled into the living room.

Zoro roared after him, pulling at the chain.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" shouted the cook, as he stood before the tiger and matched his glare.

Zoro snarled, amber eyes burned fiercely, but he didn't answer. Sanji's expression softened.

"Why are you being like this?"

"Why do you think?" Zoro growled, pulling at the chain until it groaned and rattled under the strain.

Sanji slipped his hands in his pockets, glancing at the chain and back at Zoro's fierce gaze.

"If it's irritating you, then you should know that we keep you chained because of stuff like this," said Sanji, gesturing to the hallway. "You can't just lash out at people when you feel like it."

"I do what I want, blondie," Zoro grumbled. He turned around and sat on the pile of tattered material and scraps of cloth that used to make up the futon.

Sanji sighed, following him across the room. "You know this would all be over by now if you just co-operated. Hell, we would've been done in the first hour."

"And then, what? Jabbing me with more needles? Strapping me to machines? You all keep saying 'this is the last time' but you never stop."

They exchanged hardened stares for a long, quiet moment. Sanji could hear Law and Chopper's conversation faintly coming form the living room.

"Listen," Sanji started. "We don't need to do tests like that here. Just the few Chopper mentioned. Just today. Then that's it."

Zoro chuffed. "Sure. '_That's it'_."

"If we don't finish it today, we'll just keep trying again tomorrow, and then the next day. We don't want to waste our time doing that. Do you?"

The tiger looked away, swaying his tail dismissively. That's the end of that conversation. Sanji turned to the hallway, spotting Robin watching them from the glass doors. Her wide, unblinking eyes sent a shiver down his spine.

"What is it?" he asked as the door slid shut behind him.

Robin's expression changed ever so slightly. "Nothing of importance, yet."

She walked to the living room, leaving Sanji to follow her, confused and intrigued. The cook knelt beside Law, who finished patching up Chopper. The reindeer was now back in his original form.

"You alright?" asked Sanji. Chopper sniffed, blinking back tears and nodded.

"Yeah, I think so. He didn't have time to scratch too deeply, and he missed the arteries on my neck."

"Let's call it a day," said Law, sitting up and rubbing his eyes again. "I think the longer we push it, the more frustrated and aggressive he'll get."

"I agree," said Robin. "We'll let him cool off. At least the recording transponder is installed now. I'll collect the footage and analyse it every week."

Sanji nodded. The silence that came after was too heavy. He got up and clapped his hands together. "Who's hungry? I can make us all something to eat."

"Yes please," Law nearly gasped out, making a beeline for the fridge. "And tell me you have more beer."

Sanji rolled his eyes. "At least wait until Robin's had something first. What can I get you, my lady?"

Robin smiled, picking Chopper up from floor and settling him on her lap as she took a seat on the barstool in the kitchen. "Coffee's fine, thank you."

With his three friends having lunch in the kitchen, Sanji took a plate of food to the tiger room. Zoro still sat where the cook had left him, glaring at the medical box that lay closed in front of him. With no table left in the room, Sanji crossed to the other side and placed the food down where the tiger could reach.

"You do it," Zoro growled, just as Sanji turned to leave.

The blonde raised a brow at him. "What was that?"

"You do it. Do the stupid test thing."

Sanji glanced between the box and the Companion, mulling his words carefully in his mind.

"Let me get Law."

"I didn't say get someone else to do it," Zoro raised his voice, a rumbling accompanying his words. "I said _you_ do it."

"I'm not a doctor, Zoro. I don't know how-"

"You saw how he did it, right?" Zoro opened the box and took the syringe, pointing the needle end at the bend of his arm. "You draw it form here."

He held the needle out to Sanji, but the blonde didn't move.

"How do I know you wont rip my arms out the second I touch you?"

"You don't," growled Zoro. "Now do you want my blood or not?"

He stared at the cook, pupils shrinking until his eyes were nothing but amber. With a tentative step, Sanji took the syringe and crouched beside the tiger. He was still alive. So far so good.

At this distance, Sanji could feel Zoro's body heat coming off him in waves. The growling in his chest was much louder. The cook was once again struck with awe at the creature sat before him.

"Oi, hurry up," Zoro's voice snapped his mind back to the present.

Sanji took a deep breath and tried to recall all the times he'd seen Law giving Companions vaccinations. He supposed it was the same process, but backwards. Syringe in one hand, Sanji lifted the fur of Zoro's arm and pulled the skin underneath taunt. He felt Zoro twitch under his touch. When he glanced up at him, the tiger's eyes were focused on the white box. Sanji pressed the needle into flesh, deciding quicker was probably better.

When he was finished, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and sat back. Sanji pressed a cotton ball to the mark the needle left, but Zoro shook him off.

"The deer said I needed shots too," Zoro grumbled.

Sanji glanced inside the box at the myriad of tools he was unfamiliar with. "Now that is something I definitely don't know how to do."

"It should go the same way."

"Not necessarily…"

The tiger looked in the box too. "What does the bottle say?"

Sanji's eyes fell on a small bottle connected to a green syringe. He picked it up. "FVRCPC," he read out the label. "Feline viral protection."

Zoro's each twitched. "You jab it here," he said, pointing to the spot on his arm below his shoulder. "They've given it to me before."

Sanji squinted uncertainly, but Zoro just responded with a hard, determined look. With a sigh, the cook picked up the green syringe and pressed it to the spot where the tiger indicated. He held it there until the liquid from the bottle drained.

"What's the other one?" asked Zoro when Sanji withdrew the needle.

The cook read the label for the last syringe left in the box. "It's for rabies."

Zoro's hand moved behind his neck. "That goes here, right in the middle."

Sanji repeated the procedure. There was more fur around Zoro's back that it took a while for Sanji to find the right spot. Within minutes, they were done, and Sanji was carefully placing all three needles back in their slots in the box.

"There's a box of pills in there too," said Zoro. "What are they for?"

Sanji glanced at the big blue letters of the logo. The realisation hit him then.

"You can't read," he said, voicing his thoughts more than anything.

"I was never taught how to," Zoro growled, defensively.

"It's worming tablets," answered Sanji, before the tiger could get any angrier. He took the box and turned it in his hand. "Take twice a day for five days. Preferably after meals."

Zoro nodded. "Fine. Here," he placed a small, plastic tub beside the box, filled with yellow liquid. The urine sample. "That's all you need from me, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Sanji took the tub gingerly and placed it with the syringes. "Thanks."

As the box snapped shut, the tiger's arm shot out and grabbed Sanji. His first instinct was kick the tiger away, but he froze when Zoro didn't make a move beyond gripping the front of his shirt. He met Zoro's fierce glare, feeling the amber burning the surface of his skin.

"That better be the last time, just like you said," Zoro snarled. His tone was lower this time, and somehow, that made it seem more deadly. "If you push another needle through my veins, I'll break out of here and kill you all."

He shoved Sanji back and turned around to lay on the floor again, completely ignoring the cook's presence. Shaking his nerves to work, Sanji straightened his tie, took the box and swiftly left the room. He bumped into Law in the hallway.

"Ah," said the doctor. "I was beginning to think you'd been eaten."

Sanji shoved the box into Law's hands. "Here," he huffed and pushed past him, striding into the kitchen and rinsing his hands at the sink.

He heard the box pop open. "The samples?" said Law. "How did you…?"

"Zoro did them all," said Sanji. "By himself."

"And how did you get him to do that?" asked Robin, her eyes piercing through him again.

Sanji shrugged, drying off his hands with a towel. "I don't know. I just went in there to feed him and found that he'd done everything."

Robin narrowed her eyes at him, but the snap of the medical box interrupted whatever she was about to say.

"Well, we're no longer at a setback," said Law. "I'll run these back to my lab. We should probably take a break for now anyway. No use riling him up again."

Robin stood up, placing Chopper gently on the floor before checking her bangle. She hummed in thought.

"Yes, I have work I should probably get back to. Same time tomorrow, gentlemen?"

Law shook his head. "We're testing the new cell species tomorrow. I'll be stuck in my lab. But carry on with whatever you were planning. We've all got access to the recording transponder anyway."

"I'll be home by the evening," added Sanji. "Daytime hours for me tomorrow, but make yourself at home, Mrs Nico."

A smile spread slowly across Robin's face. "Then I shall meet you in the evening, Mr Black. Something tells me I'll fare a lot better with the cook around."

There was something in her tone that suggested she knew something even Sanji didn't catch. But before he could think about it anymore, he was seeing them off at his front door.

"Try not to get killed," said Law in a mocking, sing-song tone. Sanji's mind wandered to the tiger's, low feral growl and threat whispered through gritted fangs.

"I'll try," Sanji called back, followed by the most forced and hesitant laugh he'd ever heard himself give.


	7. Chapter 7

Zoro hated when things around him happened out of his knowledge and control. One minute he was asleep, the next he woke up and the room had been cleared and replaced with new furniture. Even a soft new mat was placed underneath him while he slumbered. How did they keep doing that?

Then there was this circle on the wall, out of his reach. It glowed an annoying colour and hummed. Everything in this place hummed. Granted, it was quieter than the last cage he was kept it, but it still jarred with his senses.

He groaned rolling over in the new futon and burying his head under a sheet. The darkness was a little soothing. But he could still smell the stifling air, and feel it cling to his skin like warm, damp sweat. He sat up, the heavy chain rattling with his every move. He wanted to break something again, preferably the chain, and move somewhere more open. Somewhere he could breathe cold air and look up at something that isn't metal walls.

A faint click had his ears turning towards the glass doors. He waited. Soon enough, that lanky, blonde-haired human he'd grown familiar to seeing appeared behind the glass. He was with the woman, the one with long dark hair and eyes that stared too much; the one the smelt of something sweet in an earthly way, and faintly of something metallic. They talked in hushed tones behind the glass.

Zoro curled back in his futon. Maybe if he ignored them, they'd do the same. A click, and the door slid open. So much for that plan. He chanced cracking an eye open to observe whoever entered. Surprisingly, it was the woman. The blonde was nowhere in sight, but Zoro could smell him close-by.

The woman took small steps, crossing the room and stopping at other end of the new table. Slowly, she knelt on the floor and placed a grey briefcase on her lap. Zoro growled, rising slowly from the futon. Whatever was in that briefcase couldn't be good.

She paused, her eyes that stared too much flicking up to look at him. Zoro decided he didn't like her. Her thin lips spread in a smile, as she opened the briefcase and pulled out a wooden box covered in black and white squares. He frowned. It didn't look like anything that was ever used on him before, but he refused to let his guard down.

"How are you today, Zoro?" she asked.

Zoro glared at her, thumping his tail on the floor. _I don't like you_.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've been properly introduced. My name is Robin."

"Go fuck yourself."

She giggled. That was not a normal reaction to being told to 'go fuck yourself'. This Robin woman was nothing like the blonde. She didn't seem phased at all by Zoro's hostility. The thought gave him a twitchy feeling.

She placed the box on the table and unfolded it. From inside, she took out a bag filled with dozens of wooden shapes, some black and some white. Zoro was even more bewildered.

"Are you familiar with chess, Mr Zoro?"

He snarled at her. What the hell was she talking about? Zoro watched with heightened caution as she opened the bag and started to assemble the shapes on the squares on the box.

"It's a game we used to play in the old world, before the Hush," Robin continued, as she placed all the black shapes in one end of the board and all the white shapes on the other end. "A year ago, a friend of mine taught me how to play it. In fact, he made this board himself. I've been addicted to it ever since. But I'm greatly lacking in opponents."

She pushed the box towards the centre of the table. Zoro looked from her to the black and white pieces and back to her again.

"Find someone else to play your stupid games with, bitch."

"Oi," came the blonde's rough voice. "Don't talk to a lady like that."

Zoro bristled his fur, sneering at the blonde as he strode into the room. The blonde's scent was one thing, but there was something else the tiger could feel around the man's presence. It was like a heat that radiated in a wide circle from around him. It was stifling, but in a way that made Zoro want to snuff it out.

"You better be nice to Robin," threatened the blonde, as he placed a bowl of water on Zoro's side of the table and a small cup on the woman's side.

Zoro chuffed. "Or what, you poison me?"

"Don't make me try it, kitty."

"You don't have the guts to try anything, blondie."

"Mr Black," Robin interrupted. "Perhaps dinner some time soon would be best?"

The man faltered, almost turning into a gooey, fawning mess over the woman. It was Like the blonde had two different heads that kept switching back and forth.

"Of course, my lovely Robin!" he chimed, throwing the tiger another fierce look before leaving the room.

"Moron," Zoro muttered under his breath.

Robin smiled. "All men are, Mr Tiger. But we learn to love them."

Zoro stared at the woman. There was a softness in her eyes.

"Is he your mate?" he asked.

Robin's lips parted for a moment before she stifled another laugh behind her hand.

"No, no. My 'mate' is someone far louder and more moronic," she answered. "Mr Black is unspoken for in the present time."

"I can see why."

Robin laughed again, before a silence settled between them. She took a sip from her coffee. Zoro stared at the water is his bowl, finding the rippling suddenly fascinating.

"Would you like me to teach you how to play?" asked the woman again, gesturing to the board.

Zoro glared at the black and white pieces. "No."

"It's simple, once you know it," Robin continued anyway. "All the black pieces are yours, and the white are mine. The aim is it to 'eat' or get rid of the other player's king, whilst eliminating all other pieces that get in your way. Quite brutal, really."

Zoro frowned. King? Eat? He didn't get a single word of that.

"Perhaps a demonstration would be best?" Robin moved a small piece with a rounded top two squares forward towards Zoro's side of the board. "White always moves first. The piece I moved is called a pawn. They can only move forward on the board."

"I don't want to play," Zoro interrupted her explanation.

Robin nodded. "Very well."

She paused to take a sip from her cup before folding her arms across her chest.

"How do you like your new surroundings?" she asked.

Zoro scoffed. "What difference does it make? Anywhere you keep me is a cage in some form."

"Is there anyway we can make your stay with us more comfortable?"

"I'll give you three guesses," said Zoro, slapping the chain with his tail.

Robin smiled. "Unfortunately, that is something out of my power. But take comfort in the face that it is temporary."

The tiger's ears twitched forward. "Temporary until when?"

"Until we deem it appropriate to remove."

Zoro growled and crossed his arms, hunching and glaring at the board laid out on the table. Typical.

"Perhaps some clothes that would feel more comfortable to wear?" asked Robin, gesturing to the hospital vest sagging around Zoro's shoulders. "Or would you like some reading material or an ambience installed?"

When the blonde came around the open doorway, Zoro's eyes instantly shot to the man.

"You can get me a better cook," grumbled the tiger. "His food tastes like shit."

He received a glare for it, but then the man smirked.

"You say that, but I don't think I've gotten a plate back from you that hasn't been licked clean," said the cook as he placed plates of green leaves on the table. "Honestly, Mrs Nico. I think he's scratched all of my crockery by now."

"Maybe you don't feed me enough, shit-cook."

"I feed you plenty, kitty!" snapped the blonde. It was funny watching him switch from polite, composed gentleman to irate bastard. "If I fed you anymore, you really will turn into fat housecat."

A warning roar escaped Zoro's muzzle, but his retort was cut off by Robin's voice again.

"Mr Black," she called, holding out her empty cup. "Could I possibly have more coffee, please?"

"Of course, my lovely Robin!" answered the blonde. He took her cup and practically pranced out of the room, not chancing a glare at Zoro anymore, in case he broke that gentlemanly posture again.

Zoro returned to sulking at the other end of the table, glaring at his plate of delicious smelling leaves. His stomach grumbled.

"You know," said Robin, as she started to pick through her salad with a fork. "Perhaps you should play nicer with Mr Black. The sensor on your collar is synced to his touch, after all."

Zoro narrowed his eyes at her. Why was she telling him this? Before he could ponder on it anymore, the blonde was back again, flitting around the woman like a madman. Zoro sneered, but he'd had enough of riling the cook up for now. He wolfed down his food, watching the one-sided interaction between the two humans out of the corner of his eye. Mostly, he watched Robin. His earlier decision about her was beginning to falter. Perhaps he didn't dislike her that much after all.

* * *

Sanji didn't really know what he was expecting when Robin said she'd perform tests on the tiger. He'd given up trying to comprehend her methods a long time ago. The lady worked in a more psychological field of science that was too broad and unpredictable for the blonde's liking, so he decided not to question or think on it too much.

So far, the lovely Robin spent an hour and a half alone with Zoro as Sanji made diner. Then he sat in with them afterwards and listened as Robin tried to illicit conversation with the Companion, who more or less ignored them. It irked the cook. How could someone ignore such a beautiful, radiant presence?

He didn't really see what Robin was trying to do in the few hours she was there for. But before he knew it, Sanji was seeing her off at the door.

"Thank you for the time, Mr Black," she said, bowing her head.

"Any time you're around is a better time than ever, my dear," he answered. "But I hope you got what you wanted."

Robin smiled, her eyes glinting in a way that Sanji wasn't sure if he liked or not.

"I got some answers," she said, turning and walking towards the lifts. "There's also the feed from the transponder. I'll check in on you again tomorrow evening, Mr Black. Good night."

"Good night, my dear Robin!" Sanji called after her, watching as the lift doors sealed her from view before heading back into his flat. When he returned to the tiger room to clear the empty plates, Zoro was sitting up, glaring at the board Robin left behind. The tiger didn't say anything or make a move to acknowledge the cook's presence.

Sanji placed the empty dishes in the sink in the kitchen. He'll wash those tomorrow. Grabbing two bottles from the fridge, he went back and placed one on Zoro's side of the table. The thud of the glass on the wood got the tiger's attention. Ears perking, Zoro's eyes darted between the bottle and the blonde.

"What's that?" he growled.

Sanji popped the cap off his bottle. "Beer. Now that Law has your blood samples, you can spoil your liver all you want." He paused to take a sip, and began to roll himself a cigarette. "Also means I can smoke in this room now too, thank fuck."

He tried not to pay too much attention to Zoro's hard stare. The tiger was glaring at him like Sanji had put a gun on the table and asked him to shoot himself. If Zoro was surprised, so was Sanji. He didn't quite know what spurred such a charitable mood. But if alcohol would help pacify the tiger, then alcohol it would be.

Sanji slid the bottle opener across the table. Zoro eyed the glinting metal before wrapping a tentative hand around it and cracking open the bottle before him. He took three, long sips, downing almost half of the drink.

Sanji chuckled. "Better?"

Zoro frowned, glaring at the label. "No. This tastes like shit."

Sanji rolled his eyes. "Can't win with you, can I?"

The tiger squinted at the letters, long and hard. He must be trying to read.

"It says Macano," said Sanji. "It's the brand."

Zoro looked up at him. "It's a shit brand," he grumbled, but took another sip nonetheless. His attention returned to the board on the table, brows furrowing, and lips pulling downwards over fangs.

"What the hell is this?"

"It's a chessboard, you idiot. Weren't you listening?"

"Not particularly. The woman is as boring as a rock."

Sanji resisted the urge to kick the tiger, settling for biting his unlit cigarette between clenched teeth.

"Robin's not boring, she's highly intelligent. Something you obviously can't comprehend."

Zoro glared at him, but soon after averted his eyes back to the chessboard. "So what does it do?"

Sanji followed his gaze to the pieces standing idle on the black and white squares. "Nothing. You play it. Like a lot of the games from the old world."

"How?"

The cook glanced back up at the tiger, but Zoro's attention was on the chessboard. He wasn't this interested in the game with Robin. What made him change his mind?

"You move the pieces," continued Sanji, deciding that going with the tiger's mood was best. "But they all move differently."

He pointed his unlit cigarette at each piece as he explained. "The pawns can only move in a straight line, one square at a time. Rooks move in a straight line too. Bishops move diagonally, knights move in an 'L' shape. The queen can move anywhere because she's a lady and they're just that awesome, and the king can only move one space in any direction because he's a fat, lazy bastard."

The frown was growing ever deeper on the tiger's face. Sanji shook his head. "Don't think too hard about it, lawn-head. You look like you'll snap a synapse."

Zoro chuffed. "Why the hell are you people making me play stupid games?"

"You don't have to play them," said Sanji, as he moved the pieces back into the chessboard and folded it shut.

Zoro's eyes followed the box as the cook placed it away under the table. The tiger's face seemed more relaxed now, but Sanji could see his tail swishing behind him. He sighed, chewing on the end of his cigarette and leaning on the table, meeting Zoro's gaze.

"What are we going to do with you?" he muttered his thoughts aloud.

Zoro's ears folded backwards, fur ruffling around his neck. Something flickered in his eyes for a second, but he looked away before Sanji could decipher it.

"Why are you keeping me here?" asked Zoro, looking up at the edges of the walls where they met the ceiling.

Sanji watched his stripes quiver. "We just need to watch over you for a while."

"What for?" Zoro's voice rose as a growl.

Sanji didn't reply. They sat like that for a long time, Zoro staring with disgust at the walls that surrounded him, and Sanji sat unmoving, watching the knot between the tiger's brows, and the curl at the end of his striped tail.

"Listen," Sanji began. "You'll be here for a while so you may as well get comfortable."

"I don't want to be here," stated Zoro, his voice low and quiet, despite the constant growl that rumbled on like a rolling thunder in the distance.

Sanji felt a heavy weight press at his gut. "Well, where would you rather be?"

The tiger's eye met with the blonde's, amber fighting against dilating black. But no answer came. Sanji wondered is the tiger had even seen the world outside of walls and cages. The weight on his stomach spread to his chest and pressed harder against his insides. Taking a deep breath, Sanji lit the tip of his cigarette and stood up to leave.

"Get some sleep," he muttered, as the lights in the room dimmed and door slid shut behind him.


End file.
